Saturday, June 11, 2011

Reader John forwarded me this quote from Caroline Glick written in late May regarding Obama's position on Israel's borders:

The question is, why are American Jewish leaders defending Obama?

It would seem that there are three possible explanations.

The first explanation is fear. Several American Jewish philanthropists have mentioned over the past two years that they fear Obama. If he is reelected, they worry that since he will no longer need Jewish political contributions, he might strike out at Jewish-owned businesses the way he struck out at Republican-owned General Motors car dealerships when he nationalized GM. If they attack Obama for his positions on Israel, they worry that they will give him further justification for going after them.

The obvious response to these fears, it would seem, is to do everything possible to ensure that Obama is not reelected. If he is hostile enough to even consider going after American Jewish interests in a second term, then nothing American Jews do or don't do will have any impact on him.

Put aside the policy issue. It may just be that many American Jewish leaders agree with Obama.

Focus on the fear factor.

I think there's something to the quote, not so much that Obama will "go after" American Jews, but that he will seek to impose borders and other terms of a peace deal on Israel.

It's a point I've made before; removed of the need to placate the American electorate, which overwhelmingly supports Israel particularly among evangelical Christians, Obama will seek to force his vision on one of the only nations in the world upon which Obama is capable of forcing a solution.

And then all the countries and peoples which hate us will love us. And he can say, see I earned that Nobel Peace Prize.

19 comments:

I know you hate this kind of thing (finding it hyperbolic and alarmist, I'm sure--as I would have pre-2008), but BO actually will "go after" Jews, and he will do it with a sense of self-righteousness that only the most deranged can, do, ever have attribute/d to "the greater good." There is nothing benign about him . . . or the people who surround him. They are egomaniacal ideologues who are convinced, as is much of the Muslim world, that Israel is the root of the world's problems. Well, Israel first, then America, then Europe . . . it's pretty much the same hierarchy (or set of dominoes to be felled) that both our communist and Islamofascist enemies hold. That's not an accident.

And it's not incidental. The entire leftist ideology is based in Marx (you know this) and then watered and nurtured by Said, Chomsky, Eagleton, and a host of other armchair communists (just like Marx himself, they are all academics, totally removed from any sense of the real world or real people). The prevailing theme, of course, is that America and the entire west are decadent and have exploited the entire world, that there would be no poverty, pain, hate, inequity, or war if only the west could be destroyed. That destruction begins for American radicals (like the ones in the WH) with Israel. And it doesn't end there, we know this. They've told us. Repeatedly. It's not nice to think about, or pretty, but that's what we face.

Americans will stand with Israel. America, with BO at the helm, will not.

Excuse me, but the Jews in another time and another place said nothing against another tyrant and all they got for their acquiescence was Zygon-B and the camps. I don't wish to make the claim Obama is that other Guy. But there are levels of terror. "Several American Jewish philanthropists have mentioned over the past two years that they fear Obama." is just a clear indication that some form of terror is being applied. Yet American Jews will willfully cozy to this guy out of fear?

Same mistake, same result. Shame on American Jews if this is their thoughts. I pity thee.

“If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.” -- Samuel Adams

An Obama presidency removed of the need to placate the American electorate is reason enough for everyone to be very very afraid. That said I think you are right that many American Jewish leaders agree with Obama. The vast majority of my Jewish friends support him wholeheartedly. In fact, one person I know recently said "Israel can take care of itself."

The only one of my Jewish friends who expressed doubts about Obama did so on matters unrelated to Israel. She thinks he was completely unprepared to be president. Hard to argue with that.

I will say this, though. I suspect that, should Israel be FORCED into any sort of agreement based on the 1967 lines, the Israeli government will say "Sorry, the Temple Mount is now ours, and we're going to build the 3rd incarnation of the Temple on it. You can keep your Al-Asqa Mosque over there. The Temple will fit on the Mount NEXT TO yours." And then something like "Oh, I'm sorry you don't like that. Get out. No, really, leave or be shot." I think at that point the WAQF and Arabs will acquiesce rather than give it up.

Anything less than that, I think Obama risks open warfare between the Israelis and the Squatters, and I don't mean the nice, polite conflicts we've had the last couple of years, I mean something that looks like the 1967 war again, with all 2 million or so squatters running for the Egyptian, Jordanian and Syrian borders as fast as their legs can carry them.

"Can someone give me a link to expand on the comment that Obama "struck out at Republican-owned General Motors car dealerships"? I would like to read more on this."

I remember there was a lot of consternation on the subject, basically a lot of dealerships had to close because Chrysler and GM were bleeding money and it was noted that dealerships tend to be small businesses that donated to Republicans.

I don't believe there was ever any evidence that they were singled out by either Obama or any Democrat operatives, it was more that they were considered acceptable collateral damage in saving GM.

If you want to take a break from the Weiner story, I think you'll enjoy a piece called Mitt Romney Comes to Michigan and Liberals Have a Hissy Fit http://mittromneycentral.com/2011/06/09/mitt-romney-comes-to-michigan-and-liberals-have-a-hissy-fit/ You won't believe some of the stuff in that article.

So far as GM goes, it could just as easily have been, maybe even more likely, a case of rewarding your friends rather than punishing your enemies. If you have a bunch of dealerships and have to cull the herd, is it more likely that you go out of your way to punish those donating to your opponents, or do you just protect the ones donating to you? Different motives, but the same outcome, and almost impossible to tell apart from the outside. And, I'll note, not any more acceptable for a government to be doing, though its easy to see how some upper level bureaucrat could convince himself otherwise.

Thomas Sowell recently wrote an article titled, Seductive Beliefs. In it he said, "Whether at home or abroad, Obama's ideology is an ideology of envy, resentment and payback".

I believe there is a great deal to support the notion that Obama, and many on the left, display behavior that is primarily motivated by their deficiencies.

If one is prone towards resentment, who better to resent than the Jewish people, because they have produced so many leaders in nearly field of human endeavor.

Yet, the Jewish people in America are largely behind Obama. I do not understand this despite the many explanations that have been tendered about ideology first, religion second. It seems to me that a people who are characterized by achievement would be primarily motivated by proficiency vs Obama and the left’s motivation stemming from their sense of deficiency. I’ve thus stopped trying to even understand this issue.

That noted, I do not believe Israel is subject to the imposition of anything by Obama. Too many in Israel know that Obama does not have the support of the American people with respect to Israel. That, and his time in office is about to conclude. In the next administration, everything Obama has done will be completely undone. His legacy will thus be that he not only held our nation back, but that his administration was a total waste of time.

"I remember there was a lot of consternation on the subject, basically a lot of dealerships had to close because Chrysler and GM were bleeding money and it was noted that dealerships tend to be small businesses that donated to Republicans."

The closings also focused on rural and suburban dealers, with the result that some territories were left without any dealers, while urban dealers were left alone. I don't recall if anyone ran the numbers to determine if the proportions were equal or not.

I do recall that some healthy dealerships lost their franchises, while less-than-healthy ones were left alone.

There are people on the left who have made it their business for years to poison relations between Jews and all non-leftists, especially Christians and Republicans. I recall Peter Beinart advising Israelis not to trust pro-Israel American Christians, because they only support Israel as part of some millennialist fantasy.

I'm at a loss to understand how Jews can support Sharia Law anywhere: Jewish groups in US backing Sharia lawAmerican Jewish groups are fighting a proposed ban of Sharia law in the state of Oklahoma.A coalition of organisations that include the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the American Jewish Committee (AJC) are backing a legal appeal against a measure that would prevent Islamic law from being used in the state's courts.The AJC filed a brief last week with the US Court of Appeals arguing that the ban is an attack on religious freedom.

Easy. Pro-Obama/Left-Wing Jews are the modern equivalent of 1st century bc Hellenistic Jews who actively supported the 'liberal' policies of their Greek overlords, the Seleucids; who besides imposing taxes and seizure of Jewish property; made observance of Jewish law a capital offense (e.g., proposed SF-style ban on circumcision).

If Hellenists Jews and the Seleucids have reappeared in the form of Left-wing Democrats...

"I'm at a loss to understand how Jews can support Sharia Law anywhere: Jewish groups in US backing Sharia lawAmerican Jewish groups are fighting a proposed ban of Sharia law in the state of Oklahoma."

It is my understanding that a Sharia Court would be considered in the same light as an arbitration court. Both sides agree to abide by the ruling and in this case the ruling would be based on the Sharia, and the other parts of the Islamic docrine.

There are similar courts in the US for Jews to use in lieu of the normal courts. This may be why Jewish groups are fighting the ban.

Contributors

These Are Only MY Opinions

In case you were wondering, all opinions and views expressed on this blog are my own, and do not represent the views of any employer or other organization.

Terms of Use

By using this blog, you agree that all original content on this blog is copyright of William A. Jacobson. You may quote from my posts provided that you clearly identify me as the author, link to the original post or home address of this blog, and do not charge for access to the website, publication or other media in which the quote appears. Although comments are moderated, I accept no responsibility for what other people say, and I reserve the right to block or remove any comment for any reason or no reason. Any e-mails sent to me are subject to publication, and any disputes regarding this site will be litigated exclusively in the jurisidiction in which I reside at the time of the dispute.